Tagged: injury updates

Well, there goes the season
Ugh, I hope it’s just a slight one. The Slow Man was supposed to throw
a bullpen session today, but his wrist injury flared up again and was unable to do so.
He’s supposed to try throwing again on Wednesday, and the Twins are
holding off on any further decisions regarding treatment until then.
So I’m going to hold off on any further panicking until then. What is
certain, however, is that he won’t be making his next scheduled
start on July 21 at Oakland. Anthony Swarzak will get the nod instead.

Casilla up, Tolbert down, Harris back to the bench?

As LEN3 reported,
Alexi Casilla has been recalled from Rochester, while Matt Tolbert has
been sent back down. It’s essentially Casilla’s last chance to prove
he can stick in the major leagues, or the Twins will probably be moving
him in the off-season. Casilla struggled mightily at the plate earlier
this season, batting a mere .180/.242/.225, and all of the defensive
miscues certainly didn’t help his case. But he’s been on fire since
his demotion to Rochester, batting .340/.379/.449/.827 OPS for the Red Wings. Still, as Jason
Bartlett can attest, it’s very difficult to get out of Gardy’s doghouse
once you have been banished there. Casilla will probably have to magically
turn into Chase Utley overnight to keep his job, and even that wouldn’t
be enough.

With Casilla getting the start at second, this begs
the question as to who will be the everyday shortstop. Gardy says he
will try to find playing time for both Punto and Harris, but this is
highly unlikely. Punto will most certainly be the starting SS, and
Harris will almost certainly be back to the bench. The Twins are paying
Punto $4 million this year, so he and his .201/.319/.223 line won’t be
playing the utility role. Gardy has already said as much.
And really, when you look at the numbers, neither one is exactly running away
with the starting job. Punto is terrible at the plate, but he’s a
career 21.0 UZR at the position, so his defense is good enough to make
him at least replacement-level. Harris isn’t very good on defense (he’s a
career -11.9 UZR) but his .275/.318/.392 line makes him just a little
better than replacement-level, but not enough to just hand him the job,
either. Now, if only there was a way to combine Harris’ bat with Punto’s glove…

Gomez goes 3-for-4 with a home run and 5 RBI in series finale against White Sox

That goofball is bound and determined to make me love him.

Actually, I pretty much already decided that the first time I saw him sniff his bat.